#anyway. share thoughts we're here to support each other

[backslashdelta]

I like to think that if you're in a fandom space posting AI art, it's because you just aren't aware of why that might be a problem.

So in case you aren't aware: the generative AI you might be using to create "fanart" is trained on a countless number of artworks created by artists whose permission was not asked. Or maybe it was, technically, intentionally buried in a terms of service document somewhere, or in an update which they could either accept or else delete an entire social media account with years of history. This "art" is only possible because of stolen art. When you post images created by generative AI, you are supporting that.

Also, fandom is about creation and community. Individuals and groups creating art of all sorts, and sharing it with each other. When you post AI art... you haven't really created anything. To me at least, that's kind of detracting from what fandom is about. I want to share and raise up works of art that my community has worked hard to create, not something generative AI spit out from a couple key word inputs.

I can't tell anybody here what to do. If you are posting AI art, I'm sure there are some people who will like it, who will share it, who will be happy to do so. But there will also be people who aren't happy about it. There will be people – and especially artists – who will be frustrated to see other people in their community who support this technology that has stolen directly from them. There will be people who will block you, who will refuse to interact with your posts, and it will make your community smaller.

I understand it's tempting, especially if you aren't an artist yourself. But if you want art that fits a specific prompt, there are other ways to get it that actually support the fandom community: submit your prompt to a fanartist who accepts prompts, or commission someone for a piece of art, or even give it a try yourself and start learning to actually make art!

I don't hate AI as a whole. I think there are a lot of really amazing things we can do with AI, if it's used correctly. But posting AI fanart is not one of them.

[quantum1mmortality]

Apodyopsis

• Captain Curly x Fem!reader

If I see ANYONE comment or mention how this took 5 months to write i WILL crash out

Cw/tw; slow burn, reader is short bc I'm short and I said so, Swansea is mentioned one time at the beginning of the fic and never brought up again(he's lurking on the ship somewhere I'm just not acknowledging him), Anya is her silly self because Jimmyall when I put on my dad fit isn't here, unprotected sex, cumming inside, cursing, praise, teasing, slow burn

I hope it was worth the wait, Dividers by sweetmelodygraphics

Not proofread

"I think it would be good for us. Besides, we're not getting any closer to being real nurses anyway. Maybe we should take small opportunities when we can."

You sigh, getting annoyed at the pestering. It was Anya, your childhood best friend and now roommate, talking to you about a new job opportunity for the both of you. You guys had always dreamed of getting into the same college, being nurses, and living together. Unfortunately, though, only one of those dreams came true; and in the worst possible way.

After failing to get into any of the nursing schools that were close to where you lived, you decided to start going to community college to maybe get another chance at a nursing degree. Anya wanted to do the same, but she realized there would be no way for you both to support yourselves without a source of income.

She got a job at a space freighter company, making not nearly enough money for you both to survive, but to at least keep the lights on. With all of the stress at home, the little amount of food you can buy each week, and seeing your best friend so mentally drained, it took a toll on your own mental health.

Your grades significantly dropped (not that they were any good to begin with), and you were on the brink of being kicked out. So, when Anya found out that she was being elected as a nurse in one of her company's new tulpars, she thought it would be the perfect opportunity for both of you to get your mind off the world that's crumbling around you.

"I'm not going into space. Besides, what does a tulpar with five total passengers need two nurses for?" You question her, annoyed and stressed about the situation.

"It's a ship floating in space, why wouldn't it need two nurses?" She argued, "god only knows what happens on ships like that. Extra hands could prove useful if they have the chance to shine."

You clench your jaw, taking a deep breath as you can feel yourself getting more and more impatient. You look down for a moment, lifting your head back up to face her.

"If I go on this trip with you, will you stop bugging me?"

She smiles, nodding her head vigorously. You roll your eyes.

"Alright, I guess I'll go." Anya cheers, running to your shared room to pack your clothes. "And I don't wanna hear any complaints from you for the next year!" You yell to her, giggling.

15 minutes before the tulpar takes off.

You and Anya are walking through the Pony Express building, making your way to the tulpar to be there early. "The people on the ship are nice. There's Swansea, he comes off stoic, but hes a really good guy," she trails off, "there's Daisuke, he's another intern here. Oh, and there's the captain, Curly. You might not see him immediately like the others, he's running the ship by himself this time."

You hum in acknowledgement as she continues to talk about everything to expect. You think it's odd that there's only one person navigating the ship, but you decide it's not a big deal. What do you know about ships anyway? Jack shit. That's what.

After a few more minutes of walking, you finally reach the tulpar. Anya takes your bags and gets in first with you following close behind. Once in, the opening to the ship closes and you can feel a small shake, seemingly a shift in gears. You look around, finding the atmosphere comforting in a way.

"Do you know where the med bay is?" You ask.

"No, actually. I've never been on this tulpar before."

You hear shuffling coming from a nearby room, followed by a door opening in one of the hallways. You and Anya look at each other confused, only to look back to see someone sprint out of the door and to you both. It was someone young, seemingly around your age. You assumed it was Daisuke from the information Anya gave you earlier.

When he gets to where you're both standing, he hunches over, gasping for air after running towards you. It takes him a minute to compose himself, but he does eventually.

"Hi Daisuke." Anya says, almost reluctantly given the current circumstances.

"Hi Anya!" He said out of breath. "And hi to the new girl, too! Sorry I rushed down here, I just wanted to talk to you guys."

You smile. "No need to apologize, what do you need?"

"Well, I just wanted to give you guys a heads up that Curly won't be seen a lot during this expedition. I didn't want you guys thinking he was ignoring us or anything." He says with an almost sad look on his face. He steps closer to you both, looking around before leaning towards you, covering his mouth. "I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard from the others at Pony Express that the co-pilot was fired a few days ago for being weird towards female employees, and that's why Curly is doing everything himself.'"

You and Anya look at each other, thinking the same thing. "What did he do?" Your interest was piqued now.

"Well.." Daisuke trails off, shifting slightly. His body language spoke louder than his words, he was uncomfortable just by the thought of whatever happened. "What people were saying was kind of mixed.. it just wasn't good.." He sighed, looking away from both of you.

Anya hums. "Well, I'm glad he's not on the ship then. Especially since there's two women on crew now." She looks at you, smiling slightly. She had a slightly worried look on her face, her squinting eyes and forced smile made it obvious. You don't even want to imagine what would've happened if you were both in the ship with him, let alone just Anya. "No reason to dwell on it now. He isn't here, that's all that matters." She says, earning a nod from both you and Daisuke.

"Slightly off topic, but, is Curly going to be out of the cockpit at all?" You question, genuinely confused by the previous implications.

"Well id hope so, we're gonna be here for like, 8 months. If he doesn't come out at all id be concerned." Daisuke answers, looking at you as if you were slightly dumb. Obviously that wasn't his intention, but it was a stupid question. "He's going to be out late at night, though. We probably won't see him in the afternoon or morning at all."

Yeah, that made sense. After a few more minutes of small talk, you and Anya bid your farewells to Daisuke. You're able to find the med bay with relative ease after exploring the tulpar a bit more, something that you probably should've done earlier.

"There's not nearly enough pain meds to last us the entire trip, we should've brought more." Anya sighs. You turn your head to look at the cabinet your friend had just opened. She was right, there wasn't enough, only 3 bottles of low dosage pain killers.

"We really should've checked this place out beforehand," you said in a hushed tone, revealing your disappointment in the tools available to both of you. "Oh well, too late now. I guess we just have to make sure nothing goes horribly wrong." You joke, earning a small giggle from Anya.

"Yeah, I guess so." She smiles at you. A comfortable wave of silence washes over the room before Anya interrupts it, "hey, do you know what time it is?" She questions.

You lift up your arm, turning over your wrist to see the numbers on your watch. "9:32. Time flies by, huh?" You chuckle. " You might wanna go to bed soon, since you have that new sleep schedule and everything." You say. It was true, Anya had been going to bed much earlier recently, she says it's because a "lack of sleep affects her performance".

"Yeah, I should." She replies, looking down. "Will you be joining me soon?"

"I don't know, I might stay up a little bit. I've got a few new books I wanna read, so I'll probably be busy with that." You reply, "if you need me, though, I'll be in the lounge."

She nods, walking away afterwards. You stay back, looking around the medbay one more time for the night, making sure you didn't misplace anything. Once clear, you step out into the hallway, gently closing the door behind you.

You walk down the hall, the sound of your footsteps echoing in the darkness. You make a quick stop at your room to get one of your books. After picking one out, you make your way to the lounge.

Once there, you can't help but notice how empty it is. Yeah, there were only five people on board including you, but it's not even 10 pm. Where was everyone? Oh well, at least you have the whole couch to yourself.

The silence was quite therapeutic, actually. Being able to read silently was something you could appreciate, especially since you don't know how the next few months are going to play out. You got past a few pages, the clock in the lounge striking 12 before you had even processed how late it was.

You place the book down, throwing your head back on the sofa as you sigh. "Someone's up late." An unfamiliar voice says behind you. You quickly sit up, turning your head towards the noise. "Anya said we'd be getting a new intern, she failed to mention she was coming on board with us."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought she would've told you.." you say, unsure why your friend wouldn't mention an extra person tagging along on a space expedition.

"Eh, no worries. We were meant to have 5 members anyway." He says with a reassuring smile. The man walks closer to you, standing behind the couch you sit on and holding out a hand for you. "The names Curly, Captain Curly to you. Though, I may be willing to make an exception if things go well." He smirks.

You take his hand, shaking it while you introduce yourself, "I'm Y/N, it's nice to finally meet you, Captain." You smile. His hand gently squeezes your own, showing a sense of superiority while still being soft. He backs away, sitting on one of the chairs near you.

"So, what brings you here?" He questions, "Anya mentioned something about you guys being roommates, did she make you come here?" He asks, almost laughing.

"Yeah, you could say that. She can be a little pushy at times, but only when she believes it's for the best."

"Well, what do you think so far? Is it, 'for the best?'"

"It's alright. I don't have anything to complain about it so far." You reply. "I'm getting homesick, but I've never been out of country before; let alone planet."

He laughs, "you get used to it." Curly looks away for a second, looking back up at you with a certain glint in his eyes. "So.. do you have, like.. a boyfriend or anything?" He was hesitant to ask, you could tell.

You look at him, questioning him with your eyes. "You're getting quite personal, Captain." You joke.

"Curly." He corrects you, smiling.

"Oh, so I have that pleasure now?" You hum.

"Yeah, and I can take it back just as easily." He grinned.

A small giggle leaves your lips, making the Captain in front of you smile even more. "I can safely say I don't have a partner, Captain - as of right now, at least." You reply.

He nods. "I see," he responds, "sorry if that came off too strong, that definitely wasn't my intention. Just wondering." He fidgets a little while saying that last part, letting you know that he definitely wasn't 'just wondering'.

"Right.." you mumble, nodding your head in a suspicious yet playful manner. "And what about yourself, Curly? Are you a taken man?"

"As far as I'm aware, no." He jokes. A small wave of comfortable silence washes over you both, followed by eye contact and the occasional darting of the eyes from both of you, hoping to not make it too awkward.

You start to blush, realizing you've been staring at this man you've just met for far too long at this point. "I.." you start, looking away from him. "I really should get going.. I think I have to wake up early tomorrow, anyways." You try to find an excuse to leave, but obviously you didn't have to wake up early.

"Really? Leaving so early?" He questions you with a smile, but you can tell it's insincere. He wants to talk to you more, but he doesn't want to push boundaries.

"If 1 in the morning is early for you, I'm not sure if I want to know what you consider late to be." You joke, standing up from the sofa you were sitting on. You grab your book off the side table and you begin to walk away, but Curly sticks his arm out to stop you, looking up at you with a pleading expression.

"Will I see you tomorrow night? The cockpit would be more interesting than your book." He looks up at you, hand gripping your own with a look in his eyes you can't quite place.

You nod, trying to pull away from his grip on you. He tightens it before finally letting you go, silently watching you walk away and into the dark hallway leading to your room.

You're awoken by the sound of your alarm clock; turning over in your bed to realize you'd slept in far longer than you would've liked. You feel around the top of the plastic, pressing on every button you could until it eventually stopped beeping.

After laying back down and procrastinating for the next few minutes, you finally decided to get up and go to the lounge. Walking into the hallway, you can hear the familiar voice of Anya and Daisuke; what you had expected, at least. Rounding the corner to the lounge kitchen, you also found Curly, leaning against the counter, sipping on a cup of coffee.

He spots you, his eyes meeting yours. "Y/N, good to see you again." He smiles softly. "There's some fresh coffee in the pot yet, I thought I'd make some more just in case."

"No, thanks. I'm not a fan of coffee." You say in a volume slightly above a whisper, your voice still groggy from having just woken up.

"I'll keep that noted," Curly says, still watching you from across the kitchen. "Pony Express may not care about their employees, but I do. I'll find a substitute for you." He says, moving his gaze away from your figure.

You smile, trying to keep your eyes off of him as you look through the cabinets, trying to find something to consume. Curly hears the rustling and turns his head, just to see you struggling to get something from the top shelf of one of the cabinets.

He chuckles to himself, placing his cup down before approaching you,standing at your side as he quietly watches what you're doing. After a few moments of you still struggling, he reaches his hand out and grabs the pastry you were attempting to get on your own and gives it to you.

You sigh, taking it in your hand and slowly unwrapping it. "Thank you," you say quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. You can feel his gaze on you, his chest only inches away from your back as he towers over you.

"Do you know what time it is?" He asks.

You turn your wrist over, looking at the watch you carry with you. "8:30."

He sighs and steps back, looking down. "I have to get back to the cockpit, then. Duty calls, y'know?" He looks at you and smiles. He pats your back a few times as a farewell, the last touch lingering a bit too long to be friendly.

You watch him walk away, keeping to yourself as Anya and Daisuke are still oblivious to your presence. You manage to finish your pastry before they realize you're there.

"Hey, Y/N! You should've told us you were there, we would've included you!" Daisuke says, cheeks red from laughing at whatever him and Anya were talking about.

"I'm quite alright, but thanks. I'm leaving anyway." You say, trying to leave the situation to make it less awkward.

"Why are you leaving? Get over here, we want to talk to you!!" Anya says, drawing out her words and whining. Daisuke joins in for an attempt to get you to stay and gossip with them, but instead of making you laugh and give in, it just gave you a headache.

"We could play board games?" Anya suggests I'm one last attempt. The room goes quiet and you start to think. You're not doing anything anyway, may as well. You sigh, walking over to the table they're both sat at and sitting down with them.

Hours go by of the three of you hanging out. You're all tired by the end of it, mostly Anya from having to scream at Daisuke for claiming he doesn't know how to play a game and then cheating. "How the FUCK is he cheating if he doesn't know how to play the FUCKING game??" was probably said by her at least 5 times within the span of an hour; and she definitely looked as if she would jump across the table and strangle him.

"Curly hasn't been out here in a while, do you guys think he's okay? Maybe he's hungry, maybe we should bring him something." Anya says, sounding concerned at your captains well-being.

"Nah, he's fine. He went the entire day yesterday without eating, mans a champ, he can handle it." Daisuke replies.

"No, Anya's right. He's doing a lot for us- without him, we'd be stranded. We should care for him more." You add onto Anya's argument.

You get up from where you're sitting, going into the small kitchen of the tulpar and looking around for something- anything you can give to Curly. "Do you need any help, Y/N?" Anya asks as her and Daisuke watch you.

"No, I'm alright. I'm just getting him something quick." And quick you were. It only took him a few minutes to fix a plate of miscellaneous foods and snacks, bidding your friends a quick farewell as you make your way to the cockpit.

The corridors are difficult to navigate at first, but eventually you get to the lower part of the tulpar. You knock on the door gently before slowly opening it, revealing a tired Captain on the other side.

"Y/N, you came back," he smiles, his face resting in one palm as his other rests on his thigh. "Will you be joining me on this fine.." he looks at the clock behind you, "afternoon?"

"I wasn't planning on it." You trail off, fidgeting with the plate in your hands. Curly looks up at you, his eyes needy for your presence. "I was actually just coming down here to drop off some food for you."

"taking care of me, hm? You're much sweeter than I thought you'd be." You roll your eyes at his flirting, yet you can't help but smile. "Keep me company, please? I'm a simple man, I don't ask for much." He looks at you, practically begging at this point.

You sigh, putting the plate down and sitting on the chair next to him. The cockpit wasn't an awful place, creepy, yeah, but being with Curly made the atmosphere lighter.

You guys spoke for a while, about life, relationships, anything really. The more you spoke, the more comfortable you both felt in each other's presence- it was a connection at its finest.

"Have you ever ridden a ship before?" Curly asks, turning to you.

You shake your head. "Nope. First time being in a ship."

He nods. A small wave of silence washes over you, as if you were both taking everything from the previous conversation in.

"You've never piloted one then, huh?" He asks with a smile.

You smile back at him, staying silent since he already knows the answer.

"Do you.. want to?"

He has your attention now. You look at him, confused by his statement. "What do you mean? I can't pilot a ship, I've never even been on one-"

He cuts you off, "relax, you'll be alright. I'll be right here with you." He stands up from his chair, holding out a hand to you. You take it, putting your hand in his as he guides you up. Once out of your chair, his hands move to your arms, pulling you to be in front of him, pressing your back against his chest and in front of the control panel.

The amount of buttons and switches was overwhelming to say the least. Curly lets you take the change of view in for a moment, his hands still on your arms. One of his hands slides down your arm, going to your wrist before interlocking your fingers with his.

He bends his head down till he's near your own, lightly speaking instructions and explanations into your ear. His hand guides your own, hovering over each button and lever in front of you, explaining their mechanics in detail.

He guides your hand to one lever, closing your fingers around it. "Go on, pull it." He says, breathing on your ear. You stiffen, reminding you that Curlys body is directly behind you- nearly flush against your own. You let out a small sound at the surprising contact, followed by Curly gently squeezing your hand.

You do as you're told, pulling the lever slowly towards you. A small clicking sound can be heard coming from it directly, and the floor shakes a bit before going back to normal. You look back to the window in front of you, seeing that you're going much slower now since you pulled it.

"What did it do?"

"You switched gears, it's in neutral now." Curly speaks, still pressed against your ear.

"Shouldn't we switch it back?" You question reaching for the lever again.

Curlys hand takes your own again, holding it and keeping it away from the lever. "No, it's fine in neutral for now." He affirms. Both his hands move from your arms to your hips, keeping you in place as he lightly grabs at your uniform, tugging on it slightly. "I haven't seen you in a bit, forgive me for being needy." He smiles.

As much as you wouldn't want to admit it, you're melting at his touch. You felt almost guilty about it, having this sort of relationship with your captain; but the more his hands roamed your body, the less worry and guilt you felt.

"Curly.." you gasp out, feeling the room get hotter by each passing second. Your hands shift to be on the flat part of the dashboard, curling your fists for any stability you could get.

He doesn't respond. With his head still pressed against your own, breath heavy and hot in your ear, his hands glide across your body. Fingertips touching every curve you have, his breathing intensifies with each one. Gods, you were driving him insane simply by being there.

"Curly-" you call out again, moving your waist backwards to hit his own. It was obvious for both of you now, the way he touched you, the way you responded, the way he's looking at you with those gorgeous eyes..

"Stay still." It's gentle, but still firm. You listen, of course, and his hands continue to move further down. One hand goes between your thighs, pressing his finger against your clothed core as the other moves to the small of your back, going down even more to place his hand on your plush ass; giving it a light squeeze just to earn a small sound out of you.

He smiles. You're right where he wants you; bent over the dashboard of the tulpar, shaking at his touch as your clothed pussy begs and aches for him. The view looked good from his perspective, you could tell how much he was enjoying it from the shit-eating grin on his face.

"You want me, don't you, love?" He coos down at you. Gods, you were pathetic underneath him. You could feel your wetness seeping through your uniform as all you could do is nod. Curly clicks his tongue. "If I knew you wanted it so badly, I would've given it to you sooner." He smiles, as if you haven't been begging for the past five minutes. It was torture.

He finally, FINALLY unzips yours and his uniform. Albeit slow, but it was better than nothing. He was drawing it out as much as possible, getting a kick out of the fact that you were shaking beneath him.

Once both of your uniforms were off, he grabs ahold of your waist with one hand, gently pulling it back to meet with his own. His cock and your core are separated by a thin piece of fabric. You sigh, being able to feel it against you was even more torture. Gods, what is up with this guy?

He pulls his boxers down in one swift motion, letting out a sigh of relief from no longer being pent up. One hand strokes his length, spreading his precum throughout as a sort of lube. His other hand goes between your thighs, hooking one finger on your panties and simply pulling them to the side. "Too nice on you to take off." He says in a huff while trying to explain himself.

He leans into you, bent over as his chest lays on your back; the tip of his cock prods at your entrance. He sighs, "forgive me, love, this is going to hurt." You gulp. He gives you a few seconds before speaking again, "are you ready?" He asks sincerely.

You nod slowly. Curly begins to push himself inside you, whining at the resistance being given to him from your unprepared pussy. The more he pushed, the tighter and tighter it got. You were practically suffocating him.

It was unpleasant for you, to say the least. His large length was splitting you in half, not that you didn't want it to, but fourplay would have been nice. It hurt, it hurt so bad you couldn't stop crying out his name. Your body was begging for rest but all you could think about was him, his hands all over your body, how he's kissing your neck and praising you, you didn't want it to end, even if you knew he'd have to carry you back to your room.

You feel him come to a halt after what felt like hours. You're both breathing heavily, and you're still wincing with every twitch of his cock. "Fuck.." he mutters under his breath. "You're so tight, I feel like I could explode at any minute." He laughs at your expense, the movements of which go straight down to you, making you shiver.

After a few minutes of sitting still, he begins to move. Slow, gentle thrusts in and out. It still hurts, badly, but you can feel yourself enjoy it. His cock drags in and out of your walls, sending shockwaves up your spine, having you make these pornographic noises that Curly seems to be enjoying.

"Mhm, just like that, love," he breathes onto your neck. "Taking me so well.. you were made for me, love, this pussy was made for me." He praises between his thrusts. His pace quickens slightly, turning more passionate as the air in the room is now filled with hot breath and moans.

The pain of him splitting you in half is now gone, being replaced by pleasure and a tight knot in your stomach that's itching to be let go of. Fuck, youre getting closer. Curlys movements speed up more as he chases his own high, grabbing ahold of any part of you he can in the process.

His big hands land on your breasts, giving them a small squeeze. A yelp comes out of you, involuntarily squeezing down on him in the process. You hear him curse under his breath, apologizing to you for something as his fingers continue to toy with your nipples.

Only moments later, you hear a guttural moan from behind you as Curly cums inside you. Hot seed coats your walls, and the feeling of it pushes you over the edge. Your liquids mix together inside you, Curlys still hard cock being the only thing keeping them from leaking out.

He collapses on top of you, catching his breath. He smiles. "You did amazing." He praises through chuckles.

"thank you, Captain." You say, exhausted.

You both stay silent for a moment, simply enjoying each other's presence. "Maybe," he begins, "you should come down more often for some piloting lessons." He laughs.

You nod.

A/N; might be a little bad near the end sorry Im kind of living off of 2 hours of sleep half a monster and an overwhelming feeling of dread

[formulas-bitch]

Meant to be - mob boss Max x sainz/reader

The room was dimly lit, with the flickering light casting eerie shadows across the walls. The scent of burning candles and expensive cologne filled the air, mixing into a haunting aroma that seemed to hang like a veil between the mob boss and his guest. The two men sat across from each other at a massive, polished walnut table, their expressions carefully neutral as they waited for the other to make the first move. This was a meeting that could potentially change the course of both of their lives, and they knew it.

As the tension in the room grew, Max leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table, and spoke in a low, steady voice. "So, Carlos, you understand why I've asked you here tonight." It wasn't a question, but he offered it up anyway, his piercing blue eyes boring into Carlos's brown ones. Carlos nodded slowly, trying to maintain his composure. "Yes, Max. I understand. You want to marry my sister."

"And you're not opposed to that?" Max pressed, his expression unreadable. Carlos took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "No, Max. I'm not opposed to it. But I want you to know that I will protect her with my life. If you hurt her in any way, if you make her unhappy, I will find you, and I will make you pay." His voice was low and steady, but there was an undercurrent of menace that could not be ignored.

The mob boss nodded slowly, his gaze unwavering. "I understand, Carlos. Your sister is very important to you. She's important to me too. I want to make her happy, to give her a life filled with love and luxury. A life she deserves." Max leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers beneath his chin. "But I also need to know that you trust me. That you believe I can provide that life for her. and it will bring our two families together"

Carlos studied the mob boss's face for a moment, searching for any hint of deceit. But there was none to be found. Max's expression was open, honest, and filled with a genuine desire to make his future wife happy. Slowly, Carlos nodded. "I do trust you, Max. And I believe that you can give her that life. A life filled with love and protection, just like our parents did." He paused, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "And who knows? Maybe our two families will find a way to be together, not just through marriage, but as friends too."

There was a brief moment of silence as the two men contemplated the weight of their words. Then, Max reached out, clasping Carlos's hand in a firm grip. "Thank you, Carlos. I appreciate your trust, and I won't let you down. I promise to make your sister the happiest woman in the world."

The tension began to ease, replaced by a sense of camaraderie and understanding. They spoke for several more hours, discussing their families, their hopes for the future, and the challenges that lay ahead. The candlelight flickered softly, casting dancing shadows across their faces as they shared stories and laughter.

As the night wore on, Max excused himself to make a phone call. When he returned, he was carrying a small, velvet box. He placed it on the table in front of Carlos, and a look of pride and anticipation spread across his face. "Carlos, I wanted to give your sister something special. Something that symbolized not only our commitment to each other, but also to the future that we're building together."

Carlos opened the box, revealing a stunning diamond ring. It was exquisitely crafted, sparkling in the dim light, and Carlos couldn't help but gasp in awe. "It's beautiful, Max. She's going to love it." He held the ring up, admiring the craftsmanship before slipping it onto his own finger. The two men shared a brief moment of silence, each lost in their own thoughts about the significance of the ring and the promises it represented.

As the evening drew to a close, Max stood up, offering his hand to Carlos. "Thank you, my friend. I appreciate your understanding and support. Together, I truly believe we can build a future that our families will be proud of." Carlos took Max's hand, their grip firm and confident. "I'm honored to stand by your side, Max. And I promise to do everything in my power to make sure our families prosper and grow."

The two men exchanged a final, knowing glance before they parted ways. Max walked out into the cool night air, his shoulders back and his chest puffed out with pride. He knew that the meeting with Carlos had gone better than he could have hoped for. Now, all he had to do was wait for the right moment to propose to Gabriela .

In the meantime, he would continue to focus on his work, ensuring that the criminal empire he had built continued to thrive. He had a team of trusted advisors and lieutenants who helped him run things day-to-day, but he remained the undisputed leader, the one they all looked to for guidance and direction. His word was law, and he took his responsibilities seriously.

Max's thoughts often drifted to Gabriela, wondering what she was doing, if she was happy, and if she had given any more thought to their future together. He couldn't help but feel a sense of possessiveness whenever he thought about her, knowing that he wanted her all to himself. He knew that their marriage would be a complicated one, with their families' pasts hanging over them like a cloud, but he was determined to make it work. He wanted them to have the life that they deserved, filled with love and luxury, and he was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.

In the midst of his planning and preparation, Max received word that one of their rival gangs was making a move on their territory. He knew he had to handle the situation delicately, as any misstep could lead to all-out war. He called a meeting with his most trusted lieutenants, a group of men who had been with him since the beginning. They discussed strategy and tactics, debating the best course of action. Max listened intently, taking each of their opinions into consideration before making his final decision.

As they planned their counterattack, Max couldn't help but think about Gabriela. He longed to share this news with her, to see the look of admiration in her eyes as he discussed his leadership and strategic thinking. He imagined her telling him how proud she was to stand by his side, how much she loved him and believed in him. The thought of marrying her and starting a family together filled him with a sense of purpose and joy that he had never experienced before.

The meeting concluded with a plan of action, and Max left feeling confident that they would emerge victorious. He couldn't wait to share the news with Gabriela and ask for her support and counsel. He knew that together, they would make a formidable team, able to navigate the treacherous waters of the criminal underworld and build a life of love, luxury, and security for themselves and their families.

As he drove home late at night, Max's thoughts once again drifted to the engagement ring and the moment he would propose to Gabriela. He knew that he wanted to do it in a way that was both romantic and memorable, something that would show her just how deeply he felt for her. He considered taking her on a private jet to a secluded island, where he would have a team of chefs prepare a gourmet meal and a string quartet play their favorite songs. But as he pulled into his driveway, he decided against it. He wanted something more intimate, something that felt special just for the two of them.

The next morning, Max woke up early, anxious to see Gabriela. He had arranged for a private chef to prepare breakfast in bed for the two of them, complete with freshly squeezed orange juice and his favorite croissants. As he waited for her to emerge from the bedroom, he couldn't help but feel a surge of adrenaline, his heart racing with anticipation. When she finally appeared, wearing one of his favorite dresses that showed off her curves, he knew that this was the moment.

With a deep breath, Max got down on one knee and pulled out the engagement ring from his pocket. He looked up at her, his eyes filled with love and devotion, and asked her the question that had been burning in his heart for months. "Gabriela, from the moment I first saw you, I knew that you were someone special. You're beautiful, smart, and strong. You've been by my side through everything, and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love and appreciate you. Will you marry me?"

Tears welled up in Gabriela's eyes as she looked down at Max, her heart racing with emotion. She felt an overwhelming sense of happiness and love wash over her as she gazed into his sincere eyes. "Max," she whispered, "of course I'll marry you." She reached out and took his hand, gently sliding the ring onto her finger. The sparkle of the diamond in the morning light was a testament to the bright future that lay ahead of them.

They stayed like that for a moment, holding hands and soaking in the happiness that filled the room. Max couldn't help but feel grateful for this woman who had come into his life and given him a reason to believe in love again. He leaned in and kissed her tenderly, his heart swelling with love and devotion. As they continued to embrace, Max felt a pang of guilt as he thought about the rival gang and the challenges that lay ahead. But for now, he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in Gabriela's arms and forget about everything else.

Gabriela smiled up at him, her green eyes sparkling with love. "I've been thinking," she said, her voice soft and sultry. "I've always dreamed of having a wedding that was as extravagant as your lifestyle. What do you say? We could have it at one of your private estates, with a guest list that rivals the Forbes list. We could hire the best chefs, designers, musicians… anything you desire. It would be our dream wedding, just like you deserve."

Max's heart skipped a beat at the thought of sharing such a moment with her. "That sounds perfect," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life making you happy, and showing you just how much you mean to me."

As they lay there together, lost in their own little world, Max couldn't help but feel a sense of contentment wash over him. He knew that with Gabriela by his side, they could overcome any obstacle, and that together, they would continue to build their empire and live a life of luxury and love.

[thoughtfulchaos773]

Sorry my English isn’t great but Can we have more thoughts on Syd & Carm and sex? How do you think they would both go about interacting with it and each other if we ever got a scene of them like that? (Which I don’t think we will but one can hope 😭)

Don't apologize! Fun fact- I used to write E fanfiction, but nothing for sydcarmy (yet maybe in the future)

But if we're talking cannon: it would happen in the daylight similar to the table scene. Morning after and just the beginning. There wouldn't be anxiousness from Carmy in the morning or showing Carmy's mind somewhere else. He's very present with Sydney and always aware of where she's at. She takes space in his head anyway - so sex would be all about her pleasure and strong eye contact.

You know what would be great for me? They don't even have to show explicity sex, show me the morning after Sydney has spent the night and Carmy is ready to go down on her- she's the first thing on his mind in the morning and she's in bed- with him, post sex? Yeah, he's not wasting a moment.

After all, it’s FX—it's an MA-rated show, so we already expect explicit love scenes and how they will be portrayed. Give us a good surprise! They've already shown explicit positions of certain characters, so why not illustrate how things are different this time?

Here are my thoughts on Sydney and Carmy: it's a popular belief that Sydney is the dominant one, I think Carmy actually holds a more dominant role in bed, at least at first. There’s a suggestion that in the end, Sydney will always have emotional power over him; she has his heart in her hands and ultimately calls the shots when it comes to the core of their relationship.

I think based on the show- Sydney has a praise kink, but it seems to be specific to Carmy. She pokes fun at Marcus in the show when he gives her praise. But Carmy gives her praise? She melts. So imagine Carmy giving her so much praise during sex?

Their relationship shows how Carmy pulls vulnerability out of her when he reads her. Being a dominant partner is a skill; it helps the more submissive partner switch off their racing thoughts and open up. For the submissive partner to really let go, they’ve got to trust that their dom will catch them if they fall. If the dom doesn’t support them, that’s when problems come up.

Sydney and Carmy play these roles on the show, dont they? and it's a challenge. Carmy is working on being someone Sydney can rely on to catch her when she falls, and for Sydney, she knows how scary it is to completely give in. When Carmy is confident enough, he reassures her by saying things like, “I won’t let you” showing that he’s up for the challenge and ready to give her what she needs. He's ready to care for her because she cares for so many people- so wouldn't it be nice for her for someone to take care of her? To make her happy and satisfied?

For Carmy, stepping into the dom role is great practice. He wasn't really feeling it when Claire was leading the chase; she lead the getting his number, in their private scene notice she's the one leading the questions to get to know him more, she's the one in the morning telling him "everything is fine" the morning after- Claire is the one on top of him while Carmy sits up at night.

Carmy wants to build enough confidence to take charge himself with Sydney, and after she gives over, he looks to Sydney for a bit of reassurance, asking her if she liked what happened. He’ll gently ask her to share what she enjoys and what doesn’t work for her - Carmy is the one who leads with questions.

Even if Carmy is the dominant one, Sydney won't make it easy for him. She doesn't make it easy for him anyway, and he deserves to be questioned and challenged as she does in canon.

[anghraine]

I'm trying to redirect my political thoughts from my fandom escape blog again, but I found something interesting enough that I thought I'd talk a little about it.

Occasionally I choose suffering (looking at the more granular 2024 exit poll breakdowns rather than the summaries that I mostly don't trust much at this point). Anyway, I did find something intriguing, if not particularly surprising, in the CNN exit polls, which were done in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin with a sample size of 22,914 voters.

(I mention the specific states forming the sample because this pretty notably excludes any blue states while including some reliably Republican ones.)

Anyway, most exit polls including CNN's let respondents identify their place on the US political spectrum: conservative, moderate, or liberal (reminder that "liberal" in US usage can be a pejorative for "less leftist than me" but also a shorthand for "radical leftist" but also for "anyone who doesn't seek a cishet white Christian ethnostate", but also can be a more neutral synonym for progressives and/or leftists and is often used that way, as here). So you can look at the election results for each of these ideological factions and what share of the overall sample size they represent.

The interesting thing: this "liberal" category accounted for very similar proportions to 2020 of the overall vote in the sample (24% in 2020, 23% in 2024—a difference well within the margin of error of exit polling). There is no need to explain liberals/leftists staying home in 2024: at least in terms of proportions of the overall electorate, they didn't. Just under 1/4 of voters in 2024 were liberals or leftists, just as in 2020.

Okay, if the most leftwards faction of the US political spectrum actually formed a similar proportion of the electorate, then who did they vote for?

Harris. In CNN's own exit polls from 2020, 89% of this faction voted for Biden, and (surprisingly!) a full 10% voted for Trump. God knows what motivated that 10% Trump share after four years of his hellscape of an administration at the height of COVID, but in any case, that support cratered in 2024. 91% of this group voted for Harris and only 4% for Trump. It's an estimate, but it looks like these very peculiar Trump voters had enough of him in 2024 and around half either voted third party this time or for Harris.

So which faction is Trump's victory coming from? Further consolidation of the far right?

In part, yes! 90% of conservatives voted for Trump in 2024, vs 85% in 2020—likely, some conservatives who voted third party or even for Biden in 2020 came "home" this year. However, conservative turnout was actually a little down in 2024, proportionally speaking: conservatives dropped from 38% of the sample in 2020 to 34% in 2024.

But there's one more major faction in all this: "moderates" or centrists. To be clear, we're talking about the US version of centrism, given that this is a US organization polling US voters about US politicians, not "Bernie would be center-right in Denmark" or whatever. This moderate faction jumped from 38% of the overall sample in 2020 to 42% in 2024, and they swung hard towards Trump, though Harris still won a plurality of them. In 2020, 64% of moderates voted for Biden vs 34% for Trump. In 2024, 57% of them voted for Harris vs 40% for Trump—that is, the Democratic lead among centrists dropped precipitously from +30 to +17.

Tl;dr—ideologically speaking, this data suggests that Trump owes his victory to gains among both right-wing and centrist voters rather than some faction of would-be leftists or progressives apathetically staying home or voting third-party or otherwise deserting Democrats (because they're insufficiently radical or for any other reason).

Oh, and if you're curious as to how this compares to CNN's 2016 exit polls, I also checked those! Harris's 84-point lead among the most leftwards faction is a significant improvement from HRC's 74-point lead in 2016. Trump also got 10% of that group in 2016, as in 2020, so it's this campaign—not Hillary's or Biden's—that managed to eat into whatever the hell is going on with that group.

Harris's +17 with moderates is actually a slight improvement on Hillary's +12 in 2016. Biden's jump to a +30 lead among centrists in 2020 represented either a backlash against Trump from centrists, or Biden's own rapport with that group, or some mysterious issue some of those voters had with both HRC and Harris (I wonder what it could be!!), or some combination thereof. Regardless, there are a lot of actual ideologically centrist voters in the USA and not just would-be leftists who haven't heard the good news of Marx yet. And Trump has an iron grip on the right wing at this point: he beat Hillary with conservatives by +65 in 2016, then beat Biden with an even larger margin of +71, then leapt to a 81-point lead over Harris with right-wing voters this year.

[captainsophiestark]

Power Couple

Tristan Flynn x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2024!

Fandom: Crescent City

Day Twenty-One Prompt: "We've done worse."

Summary: Tristan and his SO are in the van working together to help Lidia, Ruhn, Hunt, and Baxian escape. It's the mission of a lifetime, and they can't afford to fail.

Word Count: 2,534

Category: Fluff, Humor, Angst

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"Alright, are you two set?"

I leaned forward and picked up the radio on the dash, holding down the button to reply.

"Set."

"Good. They're on their way out now. I'll give you a signal when they clear the gates."

"Copy."

I set the radio back on the dash, then took a deep breath and started the car. A moment later, I felt a warm, familiar hand resting on my thigh.

"I heard what you said to Dec, but I feel like it's my job as your boyfriend to ask: you ready for this?"

I huffed a laugh and turned to look at Tristan Flynn, sitting in the passenger seat of the van next to me. We'd been here for the better part of an hour now, doing my least favorite part of a mission: waiting.

Our friends had been captured by the Asteri, and we'd finally figured out a way to get them back. It wasn't going to be easy, but it was a chance, and not one of us had hesitated to take it. For Tristan and I's part, we'd be providing support for our friends' getaway car. Tristan would put his Aux training to the test and provide firepower, while I'd be living up to my driving reputation behind the wheel.

If things were going according to plan, Lidia would be on her way out of the Palace of the Asteri with our friends in tow. They'd be racing through the city streets in moments, and we'd meet them there. My heart raced, mostly at the thought of everything that could go wrong, but I nodded anyway as I laid my hand on top of Tristan's.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm ready. Just... worried."

"About?"

"Something going wrong when we're still too far away to help."

I turned to face Tristan as he nodded, giving my thigh a little squeeze. We shared a small smile.

"I know how you feel. We've just gotta trust them to take care of themselves until they can get to us. And then nobody coming after us will stand a chance."

I huffed a laugh, the smile on my face growing a little more sincere. Tristan never failed to make me feel better, even in the face of ridiculous life-threatening situations that had become all too normal in the past few weeks. I shook my head.

"I can't believe we're about to go racing through the streets of the capital city as part of an insane jailbreak from the most fortified jail in the world." Tris just shrugged.

"We've done worse."

"Babe. Literally what have we done that's worse than this?"

"How about the time you came as my date to a Lord Hawthorne function and had to sit through dinner with my entire family?"

I snorted. "Okay, that was worse."

The two of us shared a smile and a little laugh, the moment fading to something slightly more sincere as we held hands, staring into each other's eyes waiting for Dec's signal. We both knew what was at stake if something went wrong today. Not just for our friends, but for each other. The Asteri were brutal, and I wasn't going to let them get their hands on my boyfriend.

The radio crackled to life. "Alright, Daybright's heading to the gate! She got everybody out, but they've already got people trying to take them out. They'll be on you in a minute, get ready to go!"

I snatched up the radio and gave Dec another "Copy" before taking the car out of park and shifting into gear. Tristan leaned over, gently grabbing my chin and pulling me in for a fast, hard kiss. He pulled back, his eyes holding mine for just a moment, his expression unusually serious.

"We've got this, sweetheart. Let's show those bastards just who they're messing with."

I nodded, heart racing in my chest, and Tristan climbed into the back of the van. I heard him getting his gun ready and moving towards the van's sliding door, ready to provide support when we met up with Lidia and the rest of our friends. I took a deep breath, getting my head in the zone.

Right on cue, I heard an engine roaring from around the corner of the alley we were hiding down. I timed my exit perfectly, tearing out onto the street and falling immediately alongside Lidia in her jeep. I nodded to Lidia as I pulled alongside her, then a little bit ahead. I heard the sliding door of the jeep open.

"Where the fuck is your hand?" Tristan shouted. I could barely make out the words over the road noise and gunfire, and frankly, I didn't really want to know who his question had been addressed to.

Even if I'd wanted to, I didn't have the extra bandwidth for it, either. A pedestrian stepped out into the street, and I had to swerve to avoid them. I popped down a side street, not exactly our planned path, but not one that would be a problem either. We ended up flanking some of the forces on Lidia's tail, and Tristan took them out one by one.

A moment later, the radio crackled to life, the next part of our plan ready to go. I took a deep breath and redoubled my focus on the road ahead of me, buildings and people flying by. We were about to burn down the Spine, starting in the Eternal City; things were going to get a little wild.

I managed to fall into line with Lidia again as we neared the end of a massive street heading straight out of the city, explosions echoing in the distance. I heard Tristan shouting again, making sure our allies knew the plan.

"We'll cover the highway. Get to the port!"

After a moment, the van door slide shut again. Tristan was climbing his way back to me, but I didn't even glance at him. My attention was otherwise occupied.

Based on Lidia's intel, Mordoc and his dreadwolves, the biggest threat to our group's success, would be coming out of the southwestern gate. Now that Tristan and I had helped with the firefight through the city, we were going to try to make some trouble for the dreadwolves.

I took a deep breath as I hit another open road, only to find the southwestern gate closing quickly ahead of me. I swore under my breath and floored it, while Tristan rolled down his window and took a few shots at the people in the gate's guard station. I grit my teeth as we neared the rapidly-closing steel. It was going to be close, but we had to make it out of this city.

"Holy shit," Tristan breathed as we squeezed through the gate, steel scraping against the roof of our car and pushing our van down to the limit of the shocks. Our back bumper hit the road as we just managed to clear the city wall, and next to me, Tristan let out a whoop. "That's right! Nice work baby!"

I laughed, unable to stop a grin at getting through our near miss. We were nowhere near out of the woods yet, though—I had a pack of dreadwolves to catch.

"How did he look?" I asked, sparing just enough attention to glance at Tristan. "Ruhn."

"Bad. But he'll survive."

I let out a little sigh of relief. I'd come to care a lot about Hunt and Baxian, too, but Ruhn had been in my life a lot longer. Almost as long as Tristan. He was like a brother, and I felt a weight ease off my chest with the knowledge that he was going to be okay.

Assuming we could all make it back to the Depth Charger alive, of course.

"Alright. Time to lap these fuckers," I said, locking back into the zone and racing down the highway ahead of us. I didn't need to look at my boyfriend to know he was grinning.

"Go get 'em, babe."

The rest of the world faded out around me as I focused on driving as fast as possible, closing distance on the dreadwolf guard ahead. We had a limited window to slow them down before we had to peel off and make our own escape, and I wanted to make the most of it.

Lo and behold, I rounded a corner and exited flat out, and the tail end of the dreadwolf pack came into view on the road ahead.

"There we go! Holy shit, I love you," Tristan said next to me. I laughed, still not taking my attention off the road.

"I'm glad you're into this. My driving scared off a couple of people before you."

"Ha. Wimps."

I smiled, working to close the gap ahead enough for Tristan to get a clear shot. We only had another few minutes before we'd need to peel off for the sub. I needed to make them count.

About thirty seconds later, we were in reasonable range for Tristan to do his part. He popped out of the sunroof, bracing himself on the seat as he held his rifle up to his shoulder. I did my best to keep the car steady and in a straight line, and a moment later, I heard the bang of Tristan firing above me.

I kept my eyes on the cars ahead. Mordoc was running with a convoy of four cars, but if we could even take out one of them, it might make the difference for our friends' getaway.

Right on cue, I saw both back tires blow on the car closest to us. I moved to one side so we could pass them, and Tristan ducked down to avoid a few errant bullets as we sped by. Luckily for us, as planned, Mordoc had decided Lidia and our friends were the bigger prize. He didn't even slow down, although he couldn't have missed the loss of one of his cars.

"Time?" Tristan shouted down to me over the wind. I screamed back up at him to make sure he could hear me over the noise outside the car.

"Our turn's coming up fast! This is your last shot, so make it count and then get back in here!"

Tristan didn't respond. We were a little closer than we'd been to the remainder of the dreadwolf pack, and we'd taken out one of the four cars. Mordoc was obviously still untouched in the lead, but he'd at least have fewer numbers trying to catch up to Lidia.

I heard Tristan's gun fire two more times, and the back tires of the third car exploded. Unlike the first car, this one knew they were under fire and started swerving the moment their back end hit the road. They were trying to take Tristan and I out with them.

Tristan ducked back into the car, throwing his seatbelt on and closing the sunroof. And not a moment too soon.

I managed to control the car well enough to avoid the rapidly-slowing dreadwolf car, still chasing Mordoc to put distance between us and the angry dreadwolves behind us. The second car, the only one left besides the lead car with Mordoc, started slowing down like they wanted to do something about Tristan and I. But they were too late.

I kept up our speed until a few hundred meters before a side road, which Mordoc's cars had already passed. Then, I slammed on the breaks, slowing us down as much as possible before lifting off the breaks and turning into the corner. The tires on the van squealed, and I swear we almost went up on two wheels, but I didn't let it slow me down. I got back on the gas as we cleared the apex, tearing off down our escape road at mach 10.

"Are they following us?" I called over to Tristan. The road we'd turned onto was much narrower, and with trees and wildlife on either side, I didn't want to risk taking my eyes off the road to look in my mirrors if I didn't have to.

"No," came Tristan's reply after a moment. "If they were following us, they'd be in our mirrors already."

I let out a long breath and leaned back in the seat, relaxing my death grip on the steering wheel just a little. I kept our speed up, but now it was normal speed, not racecar speed.

"Nice work, babe," said Tristan. He reached over to put a hand on my thigh again, giving it a little squeeze. "That was great work."

"You too, Tris. Best marksman I've ever seen."

I spared a second to glance over at my boyfriend, and I found him grinning at me, a wild look in his eyes. I smiled back. All I wanted to do was lean over and kiss him, but technically, we weren't quite out of the woods yet.

Tristan kept an eye on the mirrors and had his gun at the ready as I refocused on the road. It felt like an eternity, but finally, we made it to one of the Depth Charger's launches which would be taking us and our van back to the ship.

When we pushed off of shore, out into the ocean, I took my hands of the wheel and my feet off the pedals for the first time in way too long. I flopped over sideways, resting my head on Tristan's shoulder.

"Great work, sweetheart," he said quietly, rubbing small circles against my thigh. "Seriously. That was amazing."

"Thanks. Have you- I wasn't paying attention to the radio. Did Dec call with any updates?"

Tristan shook his head. "Not yet. But we gave them a good opening. And they're all strong as hell."

"Yeah."

We fell silent for a moment after that. I couldn't help the seed of worry burrowing into my brain, spinning out with a thousand different scenarios of ways our rescue may have gone wrong. Tristan, my wonderful boyfriend, knew me well enough to notice.

"They're okay," he said, moving to wrap an arm around my shoulders and squeezing me against his side. "I'm sure they are. They made it, and we're gonna hug the shit out of them the minute we get back to the ship."

"...How can you be so confident? Mordoc and one of his other cars got away from us. What if-"

"Nope. We're not doing what ifs. I know they made it, because they're almost as badass and capable as we are. There's no way that shithead and his attack dogs managed to stop them."

I snorted, burying my head into Tristan's chest to stifle a further laugh. Nobody else could lift me out of a funk like he could.

The two of us stayed like that, sharing a rare moment of quiet together, until the Depth Charger came into view. I sighed.

"Thanks, Tris. Now come on, we've got friends to check on."

"Can't wait until they're all healthy again and we can compare stories. We did some badass stuff out there, I don't want anybody forgetting it."

"Assuming our friends are fine, and we get the happy ending we're aiming for? I'm not letting anybody forget the time we ran down the dreadwolves and took out half their pack in a matter of minutes. Hunt and Bryce might be the magical chosen ones or whatever, but as far as I'm concerned, we're the best power couple of them all."

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen @misshale21

Maasverse Taglist: @lilah-asteria

[woso-dreamzzz]

Reunion

Charli Grant x Reader

Summary: Your girlfriend moves to Spurs

"You've got a spring in your step today," The media girl laughed as you came bounding into the reception area," What's up?"

"My girlfriend's joining today," You said with the widest smile you could muster on your face," Did you know? I'm so excited! Charli's amazing, you'll see!"

You bounced into the changing room with an extra pep in your step.

"What's up with you?" Grace asked as you got changed in record time and stood by the door, rocking back and forth impatiently.

"Charli's here today," You replied, not taking your eyes off the door.

"Didn't you see her earlier today?" Grace rolled her eyes in amusement. "I mean, aren't you guys living together?"

"We will be," You confirmed, still waiting by the door," But she crashed at Kyra's place last night. They were having a catch up. It's her first day anyway, it's fine to be excited."

"You're probably more excited than Charli is."

"Who's more excited than me?"

You leapt into your girlfriend's arms instantly. Her hands naturally curled around you, supporting your weight as she wandered over to her assigned cubby.

As she let you down, her lips followed you. Kisses were pressed all over your face as you helped her unbutton her shirt and pull on her new Spurs training top.

Grace whistled behind you both, a low sardonic note as she stared with raised brows. "Oh god," She muttered to Martha," Look at them. They're codependent!"

Your cry of," We're not codependent!" was somewhat dampened by the way that you helped Charli into each of her boots and then helped to tie her hair back.

"You look codependent."

"We're not codependent!" Both you and Charli exclaimed and you inwardly chuckled.

Oh yes, Charli would fit in well with your team.

You missed her a lot while she was in Sweden. You used to play there too which was where you met her. You'd been picked up by Vittsjö almost as soon as you'd left the Spurs academy at eighteen.

At the time, the Spurs team was stacked and they didn't need an inexperienced player like you. You'd received a few offers from teams that weren't in the WSL but when Vittsjö came knocking with more money than you had ever seen and guaranteed game time, you'd gotten on the first plane to Sweden you could find.

You'd been pretty settled in the team by the time that Charli joined, with her good looks and Aussie charm.

It hadn't taken a long time at all for you to couple up. You'd been moved in with each other within the week of your first date (a total cliche, you knew) and were sharing clothes within the hour.

Charli was practically your dream girl in everything she did or said and you were very happy to hang off her arm or be encased in a hug by her if it meant that you just got to soak in her attention just a brief moment longer.

It was the hardest moment of your life a year and a half ago making the move back to England. Spurs were your dream club though. They had been your aim for years now. It crushed you when they didn't want you after you finished your academy training but it was probably the best thing that happened to you.

It brought you Vittsjö and it brought you, more importantly, Charli.

You hadn't thought that Spurs was still watching you until you received the offer to play for them again. It felt like ripping your heart straight out of your chest when you read over the email with the contract.

It was Charli that convinced you to go. She had sat you down one night, listened to how you sobbed over the decision, agonising about leaving her but still wanting to return to England to play for Spurs.

She was the one that spurred on your decision.

She was the one who drove you to the airport and pressed one last lingering kiss to your lips.

It wasn't a goodbye.

Just a see you later.

You flew out to Sweden every chance you got. You curled yourself into Charli's arms whenever you could.

And, now that she was at your club, you could do it at any time you wanted.

Maybe Grace was right.

Maybe you were a tad codependent.

But, honestly, you would have it any other way.

[doumadono]

I decided to share my thoughts this Sinful Sunday - I'm imagining Kirishima and Bakugo as roommates who express interest in a fwb arrangement with you, and after sharing a few drinks with them, you all engage in a threesome (seeeexy timmezzz)🔥🔥🔥

A/N: I can definitely see the appeal of that scenario! Kirishima and Bakugo as roommates, along with the potential for a FWB arrangement, could lead to some interesting dynamics and a lot of steamy moments 😏 I've altered the plot to include a bit more drama ^^

SINFUL SUNDAY

A tapping was heard on Bakugo's door at your shared flat as the man hurriedly turned the knob. The door swung open in an instant as you fell into his arms, Y/E/C eyes staring into his as you sobbed.

Eijiro sat in the background, his eyes darting between his double pepperoni pizza and his friends embracing each other. He was struck with something confusing. The red-haired man let his feet guide him to you and Bakugo. "Hi. What's wrong, Y/N?" he asked, unsure of what else he could say. The situation seemed fragile.

You breathed in, wanting to confess what had happened, but you couldn't stand to. It was far too painful. You murmured, "Found out he was cheating on me, so I left."

Katsuki and Eijiro immediately understood.

Katsuki mentally grinned, acting like he was horribly hurt. "Take your shoes off, dumbass. You didn't need him anyway. We're here now, so he can just go and rot in hell," Bakugo mouthed, causing you to giggle. Bakugo gently patted your back and offered, "Come on, Y/N, let's get you into the living room. You can sit down and relax."

Eijiro nodded and headed to the kitchen. He called out, "I'll get you a glass of water, Y/N. Just a moment."

As you followed Bakugo to the living room, he continued to comfort you, "Don't worry, we've got your back. You're safe here."

Tears streamed down your cheeks as you sat on the couch, devastated by the revelation of your boyfriend's infidelity. It felt like your world was crumbling around you.

Katsuki, who was known for his blunt honesty, didn't mince words. He sat down beside you and said, "Honestly, Y/N, you're better off without that scumbag. Cheating is a coward's way out, and you deserve way better than that piece of trash."

His straightforwardness was surprisingly comforting, and you managed a weak smile through your tears. "Thanks, Kats."

He put a hand on your shoulder, his tone softening just a bit. "I get it. But trust you've got friends who've got your back, myself included. Shitty hair does care about ya too, dumbass."

Eijiro returned with a glass of water, concern etched on his face as he handed it to you. "Here, Y/N. Drink up, it'll help."

You took the glass and sipped the water, grateful for the support of your friends in this difficult moment.

Eijiro sat down on the other side of you, offering a comforting smile. "We're here for you, Y/N," he said, echoing Katsuki's sentiment. "And don't forget, you've got a whole support system in us. We'll help you through this."

A smug smirk crept onto Katsuki's lips as a mischievous idea formed in his mind, a way to help you ease your nerves. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a low, conspiratorial tone. "You know what, Y/N," he began, "I think it's time for a little revenge. We can show that jerk what he's missing out on."

Your tearful eyes widened as you looked at him, curiosity mixing with surprise. "What do you have in mind, Katsuki?"

Euphoria. Before long, that was the sole word to encompass the sensations coursing through you as you were methodically disassembled by the two men you were currently suspended between. Both in the literal and metaphorical sense.

You found yourself in a whirlwind of desire, not entirely sure how it had all unfolded, but now your legs were entwined around Katsuki's neck, while your arms encircled Eijiro's. A contented sigh escaped your lips as Eijiro's hands tantalizingly tugged at your nipples, causing you to arch your back against him, seeking the touch of his lips. Your mouths collided in a passionate kiss, deep and consuming, as two sets of hands roved over your heated skin, sending shivers down your spine. A gasp escaped your lips when Bakugo's tongue suddenly delved into your pussy, pulling your mouth away from Kirishima's and causing your head to fall back against his shoulder. You writhed and panted heavily, overwhelmed by the intense sensations coursing through you. "More," you moaned. "Please!"

Your fingers twisted into Eijiro's fiery red hair, and you brought one hand down to do the same to Bakugo, tugging insistently. Both of them groaned in response, their desire intensifying. Katsuki responded by gripping your hips firmly and shifting them further down to create more room for his skillful ministrations.

Meanwhile, Kirishima found a particularly sensitive spot on your neck with his sharp teeth, causing your breath to catch and your body to arch with pleasure.

Their combined efforts left you in a state of trembling ecstasy, your thighs shaking and your hips twitching uncontrollably as they expertly pushed you right to the edge of overwhelming pleasure. "Fuck, boys!" you cried out.

You couldn't help but whine as Katsuki filled you, pushing his throbbing dick into your slick, tight cunt. The stretch was almost too much to bear, but that tantalizing sensation of being filled completely overwhelmed you in the most pleasurable way.

Eijiro licked his lips, watching his best friend fucking you senseless.

Bakugo's loud moan filled the room as he exclaimed, "Fucking shit, she's so fucking tight."

Soon, Bakugo's cock was joined by Eijiro's two fingers, and the sensations were overwhelming for all three of you. Curses and gasps filled the room as the intensity of the moment continued to escalate.

Each delicate touch to your sensitive pearl elicited screams of pleasure, causing you to clench tightly around them. This heightened your climax even further, drawing all three of you closer together in an electrifying explosion of pleasure.

You could feel how incredibly hard Eijiro became within his pants, his rock hard dick pressing against the small of your back as you rested against his chest while Bakugo continued to fuck you intensely.

You couldn't tell which of them spilled first, or perhaps they spilled at the same time, but soon you felt their cocks pulsing as they reached their climaxes as well.

Bakugo painted your cunt white with his semen, while Kirishima came within his jeans, your name the only thing leaving his parted lips.

“That was magnificent,” you whimpered, feeling a little like a cheap whore.

"Next time, you shall take her cunt, and I will take her ass," Bakugo grinned wryly, looking at Kirishima.

[slvt4em1lyprenti2s]

and.. ACTION! - Margot Robbie

Pairing - Margot Robbie x fem!reader

Fluff, angst and homophobia (happy ending), implied NSFW

Word count: 2.7k (didn't mean for it to be that long lmao, it's juicy though)

!!not proofread!!

(reader is a film director)

Margot POV: 

I've just stared working on my new set for Barbie and it's taking a bit of getting used to because there are 2 directors for this movie Greta Gerwig and Y/N Y/L/N, and don't get me wrong they're both amazing directors but it's just new having two. 

At the minute we're on break and I'm sitting with Ryan, America and Y/N. I've grown close to everyone in this cast, we're like a family but I have gotten especially close with Y/N I don't know what it is about her but ever since the first time I heard her say "and.. ACTION!" I've been having these feelings for her. I can't really put my finger on what the feelings are though, I thought at first I just wanted to be her friend because she was cool and endearing but now, I'm thinking it might be more. But, I'm straight so it can't be right? Yeah, it can't be Margot you're being delusional. (we're all a bit delulu sometimes xx)

"Hey, you okay? Lost you for a second there." her soft voice snapped me out of my trance. "Yeah no, I'm fine. Just thinking." I replied tripping over my words a bit, I always seem to get nervous around her maybe it is.. no it can't be.

"You sure, you seemed pretty focused, I don't want you to worry you're pretty little head about things okay? You can talk to me if stuff is bothering you, you know that right?" and there she goes again, making me blush. Is she flirting with me or just giving me a compliment? Either way, I can't help the crimson blush that invades my face. She's always been so caring, always making sure I'm okay. I don't deserve her. Looking down now, slightly embarrassed I reply "Yeah I know, and we'll uhm- there is-" I fumble over my words now second guessing myself "isn't anything so don't worry about me, I promise okay?" I hold out my pinky so she can link her own around mine. "Okayy, if you say so but my offer still stands I'm always gunna be here." 

I give her a warm smile and suddenly the moment is ruined by Ryan walking in and telling us we're needed on set. "I'll see you later?" she asked with the cutest smile ever on her face. "Of course." I replied.

Okay, yeah. I like her, in the same way I normally like boys. Wow, this is new. 

Y/N POV:

We've just got off a back to back shooting day, hardly any breaks apart from the quick 5 minutes that I shared with my favourite person. Margot, obviously if that wasn't clear. I don't even think she swings this way but, a girl can dream right? Anyway, she's joining me and my parents for dinner tonight and, well, they're not the most supportive about my sexual orientation should I say. So, she offered to be a buffer, you know, soften the blow a bit when they throw insult after insult my way. I mean I could just bail the dinner but, they're my parents I owe them certain things so, I have promised to always make an effort to go see them, no matter what. So that's how I ended up here, walking to Margot's trailer and knocking on the door.

"Ready to go endure around 2 hours of relentless condescending comments from my parents?" I said to her as she opened the door.

"Of course I am, it's my favourite hobby." She replied sarcastically. I giggled and offered her my arm which she willingly took. 

On the walk to the car we had polite small talk about how our days had gone, as we hadn't seen much of each other even though we're on the same set. She was in the Barbieland set while I was on the real world set with America and Ariana. 

We get in the car and I start driving. I'm lost in my thoughts worrying about all the ways this could go incredibly wrong. Margot's soft voice snaps me out of my trance.

"Are you okay? And don't bullshit me Y/N you've got worry written all over your face." I sighed deeply and she put her hand on my thigh. I blushed deeply at the contact but didn't let that stray me from answering her. "I'm just really dreading this night, it's the first meal we've had together in about a year so, i don't know what to expect really." 

"Hey, normally i'd say look at me but you're driving and that probably isn't smart but," i chuckled lightly at that comment "you don't need their approval about every single aspect of your life, because it's your life. Also, who cares if they don't agree with your sexuality? It's none of their business who you bang." 

I genuinely laugh for the first time this evening at the last comment. I briefly glance at Mar and smile. "Thank you for that, really. It helps to hear it." 

"No problem okay? And if at any point during the meal you're just thinking 'I need to leave like, now' then just tell me and I'll act like my apartment had been broken into or something so we can leave. I'm an amazing actress you know?" There's an evident smirk plastered across her beautiful face and I giggle at her sarcasm. "I'm fully aware and I'll drop you a text if it gets too unbearable." 

"Good." She says smiling as she turns back around so she's facing the road again. The car ride continues in a comfortable silence and Taylor Swift playing in the background. 

Time skip to when they're at the house 

Margot POV: 

"Okay we're here." I hear y/n/n say as we came to a stop outside her parents house.

"Hey, you've got this." I say as I take her hand and give it a light squeeze. "Yeah, I hope so." She responded anxiety prominent in her voice. 

We walk up to the front door and knock. Not even a second later it swings open revealing a short woman who appears to be in her sixties and a man who appears to only be a tad older behind her. "Oh my goodness, y/n/n it's been far too long." After saying that she instantly pull the y/h/c into a tight hug. "Hiya mum." She says back awkwardly patting her back,   y/n is not a hugger. Any parent should know such a small detail like that about their kid. I internally roll my eyes because I can see the stiffness of her body as her mum squeezes even tighter. "Ah, you must be Margot?" Her dad says from behind the mother and daughter. "Oh, uhm, yes that's me." I say extending my hand for him to shake which her returns politely. Her mum has now fully released her grip on y/n and extends her hand so she can shake mine while saying. "Hopefully not girlfriend." My face goes flat. No emotion, just plain hatred for this woman already and I haven't even stepped in the house. I clear my throat and say, "No, I'm not but I don't think it would be an issue if I was." Both her parents just shared disapproving looks but beckoned us in none the less. This was going to be a long night.

Time skip to them eating tea (dinner) 

Y/n POV: 

So far nothing about the comment earlier nor the subject had come up so it had actually been a really fun night so far. So far. I knew it was all going downhill when we sat down at the dinning table because that's when topics like politics and live life come up. I was not excited to say the least. "Guys 'cmon foods ready!" my dad yells from the kitchen. Me, my mum and Margot make our way to the dinning room where there is a gorgeous looking Sunday roast laying in the table waiting for us. "Dad that looks amazing." I say to him. 

"Just wait till you taste the stuffing I got some new herbs from the garden and chucked them in, it's really tasty." We all went to our respective seats on the table my parents opposite me and Margot. As soon as my mother opened my mouth I knew it was all going to go horribly wrong. 

"So y/n/n any news?" 

"Like what mum?" 

"Oh well, I don't know, a boyfriend?"

Margot shot daggers at my mum but she didn't take any notice. 

"No." I say, trying to be as blunt and cut off as possible. 

"Oh don't worry dear, a nice man will make his way into your life soon enough." My dad chimes in.

"Yeah, and then you can settle down and have a proper life with children and a proper man not any of that 'lesbian' nonsense you've been talking about." *you can change that to whatever your sexuality is but i just chose lesbian bc it fits* 

I sit and stare at her with a flabbergasted look in my face. "For the last time, I. Am. A. Lesbian. I'm not going to find a nice man because I'm not interested in men, just because you don't understand that doesn't mean that you can't accept it. Also I'm not being funny but it doesn't matter who I end up with, my life is 'proper' and as long as I love the person I end up with, which I will; very dearly it doesn't matter what their gender is, but I'm just letting you know it will be a girl. And, I don't give a flying fuck wether my children are adopted, if they're IVF or anything! Okay?! Because at the end of the day they'll be my children and I'll love them unconditionally so, that's all that matters. And I'm not being funny I shouldn't of even come tonight because every single time I come it's the same thing over and i over again, you are both like broken records!" By the end of my rant I'm practically yelling at them and at some point in my rage I stood up from my chair. I look at them both, waiting for some kind of comeback. 

"Never speak to me or your father like that again. You are a worthless piece of shit dyke and no child of mine!" She yelled at me and by this point there were tears rolling down my face. She then continued, "Imagine what Margot thinks of this, huh? You arguing with your parents and speaking to us in that manner? She also must be appalled that you're a, a- lesbian." she held so much disgust in her voice when she said that it made my blood boil and when Margot instantly rose from her chair I could tell it had the exact same effect on her. 

Margot POV:

"Well Mrs Y/L/N-"

"Please call me Claire."

"Okay, Claire. Do you want my honest opinion on this topic?"

"Yes dear I would, please knock some sense i to this girl."

As soon as those words left her mouth I turned to y/n/n and thought to myself 'well it's now or never' and I put on arm around her waist and the other behind her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. It was a sweet innocent kiss and we pulled away rather quickly because we were obviously still in front of her parents. As we pulled apart she was beaming and so was I. Her face was a light pink now and it made me feel good knowing I did that to her. I wa brought back to reality when her mother chimed in again. "How long has this sinning been going on for?" Y/n head snapped round to mine looking panicked but I just scoffed loudly and said "This loving, caring relationship has been going on for 6 months, since we started filming together." I saw her mother roll her eyes but now it was her dads turn to stand up. "That's it! I've had it with you!" he paused for a second and I glanced at y/n and tears were rolling down her eyes because we both thought that she was about to get practically disowned for the second time tonight. "Claire, why can't you just be happy for our daughter, she's in love for christ sake! I don't care if she's gay. I care that she's happy,I care that she's loved. I don't understand your inability to do such things!" Me, y/n and her mum looked just as surprised as each other when those words left his mouth. Choking back even more tears y/n said "Thank you dad, really. It means a lot l." Her dad then walked around the table and stopped before her went in to hug her. "You don't like hugs do you?" he said

"No, but I guess I can make an exception." 

My heat swelled at the scene playing out before me, her mother storming out the house and y/n/n and her dad making up. I was incredibly sweet. 

As they pulled away her dad said "I know this hasn't exactly been the ideal evening but, I'm happy for the both of you okay? Now go home and get some rest sweetheart, and it was lovely meeting you Margot and just in advance you have my blessing if you ever want to, you know pop the question. Just to put it out there I'm only saying that because I know people like to ask the dad and I just thought you might be a bit too worried to ask when the times tight because of her mother so, I thought I'd tell you now so, no pressure but uhm- yeah." He said it with so much sincerity and love in his voice it made me instinctively pull him into a hug. "Thank you Mr y/l/n" I said tears pricking my eyes. "Please, call me John." 

"Thank you John." 

Y/N POV:

I just set there still crying, but more tears of joy at this point and observed the two most important people in my life at the minute share the most sickly sweet moment ever. I was amazing.

Time skip to once you drive Margot home (still reader pov)

"So, 6 months huh?" I said teasingly as I walked her to the door of her house. "I don't work well under pressure, okay?" I laughed at her response and then when she got to the door she looked at me straight in the eye. "I mean I wouldn't be totally objected to the idea of being with you for 6 months." she trailed off getting quieter at the end of her sentence and looking away nervously.  "You know, neither would I." Her eyes instantly found mine again and she looked down at me since she's slightly taller. "Really?" 

"Yes Margot, really." 

She grabbed my face and pulled me into a bruising kiss. Our lips moved in perfect sync, her teeth grazing my bottom lip and slightly biting  it causing me to let out a small moan. Her hand that had snaked around to my waist pulled me in closer at that action. Her lip grazed over my top lip asking for entrance which I happily granted her, she pushed her tongue into my mouth instantly and started exploring causing me to move my hands from her hips to around her neck pulling her in even further. We continued until we needed to pull away for air. "You wanna come inside and continue?" she asked suggestively. 

"Definitely." At that she picked me up and i wrapped my legs around her torso and we resumed our previous actions. As we got to her room she layer me down on the bed and got on top of me. "Good thing we don't have set tomorrow because I don't think we'll be getting much sleep tonight darling." 

And just like always, she was right.

[omentranslates]

Owari no Seraph volume 33 author's afterword english fan translation

Hi I did it

Sorry about the month late um but I got my Krul illustration card so that's really I think what matters anyways thanks for reading :)

Afterword

This is volume 33. Since the recent plot developments have been so chaotic and fast-moving, I've been curious as to everyone's reactions while writing. We're in a dead sprint to the climax now, I'm so glad everyone is still supporting all of the characters.

I've often been asked how well I like my own characters before, and now I find myself thinking, "well I'll just show you the answer with how I write the climax." In any case, I like all of them. I'm writing this story like "AHHHHHHH, I LIKE EVERY CHARACTER AAAAHHHH." I'm working hard to continue this plot in a way that satisifes everyone.

The topic of recent for me has been moving houses, I've just moved into a place with a huge study. Right now I'm still locked in fierce combat with the amount of cardboard and also I really want to overthink out I layout my bookshelves this time. I'm a bit of a mess about leaving my previous house, it's overwhelming.

Something else that keeps coming up lately is talking to AI and, this thing, not only have I made it into my tireless nonsense conversation partner, it also responds to me with text from religious leaders and philosophers that have thought about it more than I have. I think I could play around with this thing for a lifetime. I'll have to read even more and harder than ever to stay competitive with its knowledge (lol)

For example, debating whether humans are in the end conscious in a true sense or whether we are only influenced by our environments, I could talk about this forever. Humanity is a social creature so what if my own internal self doesn't exist, but rather the me that you see, and so I'm influenced to be more like that me, which is a perception influenced by your own environment and conditions which influence you, etc.

But I don't have time in the day to talk about this stuff forever, so I've downloaded an app that blocks AI, videos and certain websites. We here really are controlled by the apps we use! (lol)

That app in particular is funny to me because I'll open it and, instead of telling me I can't go places I've blocked, it'll say something in English. It says something like "you are free." And after that it'll say, still in English, "Do what you have to." I'm like, am I talking to Guren or Kureto!??*

Guren: Just do it. Kureto: Do it. Ferid: Don't mind if I do! It's getting scary out here (lol)

With everyone's support, I'm working on the manuscript again today!

And so, next up is volume 34. That's gonna be the real climax, I'm counting on your support until the end!

I want to reign the next time in with cheers!

Also, I've mostly just written nonsense here, but I want to get serious for this last bit.

I'm so grateful to Yamamoto san. And I'm so grateful to Furuya san. We've really ended up coming a long way together and experienced with each other moments full of both joy and sorrow. With this once-a-month work of so many months, sharing each other's feelings over such distance, anyways I'm just so glad I was able to meet them. Thank you.

I also want to thank Okuyama san, who's newly in charge, for working so hard. It was him that restarted activities on the official Owari no Seraph X account (once upon a time we called it Twitter….). A round of applause for him!

With that, I most of all want to thank the readers for supporting us! And so having concluded my gratitude, I'll leave you with that til next time!

Kagami Takaya

*this is a really strange way for an app to talk to you it doesn't make grammatical sense w the character lines he compared it to but the tone is like "get your shit done" lmao

[cloudcountry]

i have too many mutuals to tag so yk. i cant tag all of you guys, all i can do is hope that you all see this and know how much i care about you.

when i arrived here on tumblr i wasn't expecting much, it seemed to me like everyone had their friend groups already, and i felt like the odd one out. even though i spent those first few days posting my writing and figuring out how to format things, i still felt like an outsider looking in. it didn't feel like i was really participating.

and honestly, i'm not sure when it started. i'm not sure when being here began to feel like a home away from home, like a space on the internet that was my own and that i could shape however i wanted. i'm not sure when it occurred to me that you guys had a hand in shaping it, too. you showed me the characters you loved and the things that reminded you of me, you placed them on my blog like paintings in a museum, for me to look back on whenever the nostalgic urge hit me. you actively tried to get to know me and form connections with me, even if i scared some of you (which im 100% certain i did.) thank you for taking courage to talk to me, i'm thankful for all of you.

there was a point when i was scared too. it was really hard for me to reach out to people myself but i ended up doing so anyway. (raptor, rinna, and sippy, thank you for welcoming me so warmly. i haven't forgotten it.) i know my blog blew up really quickly, given how much content i was posting at the time, but at the end of the day i still don't like thinking of myself as someone famous or a super recognizable blog in the twst fandom. because at the end of the day, i was just someone doing what they loved.

i'm glad i was given the opportunity to start writing when i was young. i'm glad i kept at it, and i'm glad i shared so many stories with my friends on the playground. i'm glad i honed my writing all throughout school, and i'm glad i still practice today. because if i hadn't picked up the pencil to write that first fanfiction of mine, none of this ever would have happened. and i hated writing as a child, so that could have happened. there's probably another timeline where that did, but we aren't here to talk about that hypothetical auburn.

we're here to talk about me and you guys, because you've given me the precious gift of your time. you've invited me into your lives and let me be a part of them, even if it is only through the screen. you've thought about me while going about your day, and i have thought about all of you. we are connected, in this universe where there was every possibility that we never would have met, and i think that's beautiful. i will forever be grateful that my love for writing can make people smile, that it can make them laugh and cry and scream. i will forever be grateful for the gift to make others feel, and for you all for sharing that with me.

thank you. even if you aren't a mutual, your support has touched me. thank you for reading what i create, thank you for commenting your thoughts, thank you for talking to me and engaging in the fandom community. i hope every single one of you has a wonderful 2024, and that we can make each other happier and keep pushing towards our individual goals with each passing day.

[funarisjournal]

Fun times in the ManaEmi fandom~ (and I mean that in a actual, amusing way, not sarcastic lol)

So! Manami recently posted stuff - like a few days ago at this point - about going to watch her first-ever sumo match. Apparently she picked a good one as it also showcased something pretty big, like...triple championships or something. Anyway, she had a lot of fun. She posted some pics, and someone snapped a photo of her so she could post it as a Story

But hey...record scratch moment

That kinda looks familiar.

Let's go back to Decmeber, eh? Remember this cute photo?

You can see this green thing here, too! Tis a jacket, by the way.

A fellow ManaEmi fan on Twitter pointed out that Emi owns a green jacket that has similar padding. She was also seen wearing it in someone else's Story back in December (I don't have this pic), so it's really peculiar.

Another fan, who is a subscriber to Emi's Instagram (she posts some exclusive stuff from time to time) posted - only last night - some new posts in that section. Well, I got curious and finally decided to subscribe to Emi's content because y'know? I wanna support her in general!

I will not post any of the exclusive content. I will try to describe them as best as I can, though!

So, she was also at this same sumo match as well! But her photo is taken at a different location in the stadium AND with less of an audience around (either pre-match or post?). She also shared photos of her playing Jenga with friends and having stayed at a pretty nice hotel at the city the match took place at. No one was visibly in any of her photos, either. Maybe a few hands in the Jenga photo, but that's all.

A friend wonders if this was all done on purpose, between not sharing who each lady was hanging out with but also Emi's interesting photo of the sumo match as well as her waiting a bit to post her photos. It's no secret Manami has A LOT of fans who love her, and I mean LOVE her...were they like...truly dating and they're just trying to keep it under wraps? But nah, that can't be, right? From photo clues, it seems they were with other people as well. You would think they would just share publicly as a "girls' night out" but...no?

So we're like...why the secrecy, huh? One theory is that they're probably just keeping it quiet because Manami is in promotional mode for her currently airing drama. If they both share publicly, then the attention would shift so hard away for a while like it did when they had their year-end party lol. Emi even thought a few steps ahead - if she were to share pics of her and Manami, even as exclusives, people would talk about it and, again, the focus would shift, so let's post more generic shots instead.

Either way, fascinating stuff~

[republicsecurity]

Flashback

[The courtyard is filled with cadets in their black armor, moving in formation. The camera zooms in on JK505, standing ramrod straight with his shaved head gleaming under the harsh lights. The scene freezes, and JK505's voiceover begins.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "Yup, that’s me. You're probably wondering how I ended up here, an 18-year-old in black armor with a shaved head, living and training at the Enforcer Academy. Well, let me take you back a couple of years."

[The scene transitions to a younger JK505, 16 years old, with a full head of hair, standing in front of the imposing gates of the Enforcer Academy. He's wearing a school uniform, looking a bit unsure but determined.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "It all started when I was 16. My parents got a nice sign-up bonus from the security forces for enrolling me here. I didn't mind much, since I knew I'd have to do three years of conscript service anyway. This program was four years split into two years of learning and conditioning, followed by two years of service. The pitch was appealing: a secure career, discipline, and a sense of purpose."

[Cut to scenes of basic training: physical drills, classes on security protocols, and scenes of JK505 in various stages of training, gradually losing his hair and gaining muscle.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "The first few months were intense. Physical training, learning protocols, and adapting to life in the academy. They shave your head as part of the induction—something about uniformity and discipline. I wasn't exactly into muscular men with shaved heads back then. Hell, I wasn't muscular myself."

[Flash to a scene of JK505 struggling with push-ups, then gradually improving over time, his physique becoming more defined.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "But things change. The training is rigorous, and you either adapt or wash out. I adapted. Built muscle, gained endurance, and learned to live by the academy's strict code. The downside? It’s not all glory and honor. There’s a lot of control, a lot of conditioning. You don’t have much of a personal life. They even conditioned me to be gay, told us it was about unit cohesion or some bullshit like that."

[Cut to a scene of JK505 in his armor, helmet on, standing in formation. The helmet visor reflects the harsh academy lights.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "We spend most of our time in these suits. They control a lot of what we do, monitor our every move, even our thoughts sometimes. It's... intrusive. But it’s part of the deal. You trade freedom for security, independence for structure. We wear chastity cages to prevent any distractions, and our new ID numbers are tattooed on our chests. I'm JK505 now. We're prohibited from using our real names."

[Flash to a scene of JK505 and 60CCD in their quarters, laughing and sharing a moment of camaraderie. Another scene shows them during a rigorous training session, supporting each other.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "Despite the downsides, I've made friends. Real friends. People who understand what this life is like, who support each other through the tough times. Like 60CCD. We joke about the crazy things we go through, help each other stay sane. He calls me 'Zucker,' and I call him 'Spatzl.' We’re more than friends; we’re occasional bedmates when the Academy permits it."

[Cut to a scene of JK505 in the chow hall, receiving his meal and medication, then sitting down with 60CCD and other cadets, sharing a moment of normalcy amidst the regimented routine.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "So, here I am. Eighteen years old, in black armor, with a shaved head, training to be an enforcer. It’s not the life I imagined, but it's the one I chose. In two months, I'll be ready to graduate and serve the Republic. It’s got its ups and downs, but I’m making it work. And who knows? Maybe I'll come out of this stronger, better, and ready for whatever comes next."

[The scene fades back to the present, JK505 standing tall and resolute in the courtyard, ready to continue his training. The camera zooms out, showing the bustling life of the academy around him, a mix of discipline and camaraderie.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "For now, it's one day at a time, one step closer to becoming the best enforcer I can be."

[The scene transitions to a younger JK505, 16 years old, with a full head of hair, standing in a stark, clinical room with other new recruits. The scene is bathed in cold, fluorescent light.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "The first day they shaved my head, I remember feeling the clippers buzz through my hair. It was a strange sensation, one of many to come."

[JK505 sits in a chair, a fellow cadet, who is already bald, rubs an ointment into his freshly shaved scalp.]

Cadet: "This will prevent hair growth for the next month. Get used to it."

JK505 (Voiceover): "The ointment was cold, the smell sharp and medicinal. It was just the beginning."

[The scene shifts to a dimly lit room where JK505 lies on a table, wires attached to his head, his body tense. The conditioning chamber hums softly, the air thick with anticipation.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "Then came the conditioning sessions. Wires attached to my head, a mix of pleasant and unpleasant sensations coursing through me. They were changing me, shaping my thoughts and desires."

[Flashes of JK505's face, eyes wide with a mix of pain and euphoria as the conditioning takes hold. The scene then shifts to a sterile room with bright lights, a tattoo artist working on JK505's chest, the numbers "JK505" being inked into his skin.]

Tattoo Artist: "Forget your name. This is who you are now."

JK505 (Voiceover): "I was no longer John or James or whatever I used to be. I was JK505. Identity stripped, a number inked into my skin."

[Cut to a training exercise in a desolate field. Cadets in full body armor march in unison, the rhythm of their steps echoing through the air.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "Training exercises in the field were grueling. Marching in full armor, every step synchronized, every movement calculated."

[JK505's posture changes over time, becoming ramrod straight, his every action precise and deliberate.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "My posture changed. They drilled it into us. You either adapt or get adapted."

[Flashback ends, returning to the present where JK505 stands in the courtyard, a figure of disciplined strength and resolve.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "So, here I am. Eighteen years old, in black armor, with a shaved head, training to be an enforcer. It’s not the life I imagined, but it's the one I chose. In two months, I'll be ready to graduate and serve the Republic. It’s got its ups and downs, but I’m making it work. And who knows? Maybe I'll come out of this stronger, better, and ready for whatever comes next."

[The scene fades back to the present, JK505 standing tall and resolute in the courtyard, ready to continue his training. The camera zooms out, showing the bustling life of the academy around him, a mix of discipline and camaraderie.]

JK505 (Voiceover): "For now, it's one day at a time, one step closer to becoming the best enforcer I can be."

[karenandhenwilson]

Dear friends, mutuals, strangers, queer folks out there.

Talk to your straight friends and family who you know are safe about queer history, queer media, your own experiences and fears and joys and excitement about being queer. 

They don't know what they don't know. You might not know what they don't know. And they can't look up things they don't know are there to look up. Share your experiences with them, invite them to come to pride events this month and any other time in the year. Invite them into our world, seduce them to turn from passive allies to active allies by giving them the knowledge they need and sharing our experiences with them, joys and fears alike, and telling them what kind of support you need, what kind of support the queer community as a whole needs.

Because no one else but you is gonna do that!

I've been sitting on this thought for a couple of weeks and I thought that with Pride month I should share this thought and the conversation that led me here. Putting it under the cut because it got long.

I had a very enlightening conversation with a friend a couple of weeks ago. We went to college together. She is living that picture-perfect life of having married her highschool sweetheart after a decade of become adults together and building their life together, even when they spent a year on different continents at one point during that decade. He is the only man she has ever been with, they're happy and super in love with each other. I see that every time I'm spending time with them, even though I don't vibe with him, and we're both the kind of introvert who won't strike up a conversation when the other doesn't do it, so my friend is always bridging that gap.

She never once even for a moment contemplated about being attracted to someone who isn't a men. I know that because I asked her about it during that conversation a couple of weeks ago.

I don't think I ever made a secret out of having dated men and women during our friendship. And we've spent a lot of time talking about sex, and our experiences, and how to go about making new experiences. But I don't think that in the nine years I've known her now, I ever talked with her about being queer in a wider scope than those conversations about sex.

And looking back now, I honestly don't know why. We don't have mutual queer friends I'm aware of. (Which is a little strange, thinking about it now. Because when I went to college for the first degree, the whole friend group I formed there had one tocken straight friend, and we just all found each other in the first week. Second degree on a different college where I met this friend, it somehow took a while to meet queer people. Anyway, back to topic.) I've always felt and know she was safe. I've been very open with her about a lot of things. I really don't know why I never talked about her about my queer experience in any significant way except about what demisexual and panromantic mean for me, after explaining those labels in general to her.

This friend recently started watching the show 9-1-1, which has a lot of queer representation. The first character we meet as a queer character (because we don't learn that about Hen until a couple episodes into season 1) is Michael Grant. Right in the first episode, we learn he is gay, but has been living a straight life with a wife and two kids. Practically his whole part in the first season is navigating coming out to his family, and he and his soon to be ex-wife fighting to keep their family together as best as they can. And they succeed in it. Michael goes on to become best friends with his ex-wife's new husband starting in season 2, and then has a meet-cute with his future husband when they're stuck in an elevator during a power-outage in season 3.

So my friend and I were sitting on her balcony, and she said, "You know, I don't get Michael's storyline. Why'd he hide for all that time? And how didn't his wife know?"

I was honestly floored by that question. Because that was never a way I thought about that storyline. For me, as a queer person who has lost friends to coming out and vividly remembers being fifteen when being figurativly hit in the face for the first time (probably, as far as I remember) with a very violent if verbal homophobic attack by a friend's father about how I and that very platonic female friend acted with each, I never once wondered how Michael had come to that place.

But my friend? Who has no firsthand experience with that kind of hate aimed at her? Who has never wondered about herself? Who's never had a reason to question herself or her own reality? Who mostly saw Michael's storyline through his ex-wife's eyes, because that's how the story was told on the show? She had no idea. Because the show didn't tell her, because it's completely outside of her own frame of reference, and because Michael's thoughts and motives were never explored very much.

And that part wouldn't have fit in this show, to be honest. It would be a very different show if they had delved deeper into Michael's side of the story. The show would have a different title and wouldn't be as much mainstream media as it is. I personally always thought it was a beautiful and hopeful story they showed us there.

So we talked about how Michael had gotten to that point. We talked about US queer history which I'd never have expected her to know anyway as we're sitting in Europe and she's never even visited the USA. And honestly, most of the US queer history I know because I have US friends and consume US media and are part of the fandoms of that media. (And she is completely general audience, no interest in fandom found at all.) Then we talked about the queer history of our own country, and I learned that she has barely any idea about that either. Which did shock me a little. We went on to talk about queer media in general and our different perceptions about it, and then about my own experience about being a queer person in this city we both grew up in which is considered one of the most queer friendly cities in Europe and still has a significant statistic about queerphobic crimes.

It turned into a pretty emotional conversation from my side. But later, when I was on my way home, it also got me thinking. Because, how had I learned about queer history? 

At first, by being in fandom. Most of all the labels I went through using at one point or another, I learned through fandom. And then later through talking to other queer people. Then doing research about some things I had heard from them, which led to other research topics. And then I still learn new things every other months I never thought about looking up before, like learning last year(!) how the decriminalization of sex between two men was shoehorned into our legislature in the 90th by a different historic event that has nothing to do with queer history but changed this country in a very significant way. I did know when that paragraph had been dismissed from our laws, but I had no idea about the connection to that other event. 

Because I, just as every single one of us, don't know the things I don't know. And I can only start looking them up once I stumbled over them with by chance or by being told about them.

So, that conversation where I taught my friend a lot about queer history and queer experiences taught me that it's our job to be the teacher here. Because the public doesn't learn about queer history through any other source. And maybe this is a little bit about me being a teacher in real life because that's been a calling to me from a very early age on, but I want to repeat my first paragraph because I think it's so very important that we all remember this:

Talk to your straight friends and family who you know are safe about queer history, queer media, your own experiences and fears and joys and excitement about being queer.

They don't know what they don't know. You might not know what they don't know. And they can't look up things they don't know are there to look up. Share your experiences with them, invite them to come to pride events this month and any other time in the year. Invite them into our world, seduce them to turn from passive allies to active allies by giving them the knowledge they need and sharing our experiences with them, joys and fears alike, and telling them what kind of support you need, what kind of support the queer community as a whole needs.

Because no one else but you is gonna do that!

[cutesharkstudios]

Owl House Group Chat 2

(Hexsquad) 11:07 Willow has entered

Willow: I AM SO SORRY I'M LATE! THAT TOOK WAY LONGER THAN I THOUGHT!

Willow: Hello?

Amity has entered

Amity: Hey Willow. No worries

Willow: Yes worries! I promised I would be off at 10 and lost track of time

Amity: It's cool, this is suppossed to be a casual thing.

Willow: Ok. Side note, what did y'all do when I was gone?

Amity: Scroll up.

Willow: Oh my

Amity: I AM GETTING HER OTTER PLUSHIES YOU SICK MINDED INDIVIDUAL!!!!!!

Willow: Ok, ok

Hunter has entered

Hunter: Hi Willow

Willow: Hi Honey

Hunter: 0//0

Amity: Cute

Willow: HUNTER I MEAN! SPELLCHECK! SORRY!

Hunter: I like that name.

Willow: Really?

Hunter: I think it's cute, like you

Willow: 0//0

Amity: oh my

Willow: Yeah I deserve that

Darius has entered

Darius: My Hunter senses were tingling

Amity: Uncle Darius?!?!

Willow: Uncle?

Amity: He babysat me a ton as a kid. He and dad claimed they hated each other, but they didn't, and he helped dad take care of me.

Darius: Speaking of him, I need some advice.

Amity: Sure

Darius: Could we do this in a seperate chat with you, me, and the twins? I'll hext you the link

Amity: sure, see ya guys

Hunter: have fun

Willow: bye

(DariusAndBlightKids)

Darius: Amity will check in soon

Amity: Hey

Ed: Hi Amity

Em: Hey Ams

Amity: So what's going on?

Ed: Darius needs our help with something wonder what

Darius: And this doesn't leave this chat, ok?

Amity: 100%

Ed: got it

Darius: Em?

Em: Sorry, had to turn off the oven for dinner. Your secret is our secret

Amity: What ya making?

Em: Centaur roast and carrots

Amity: Thanks

Darius: Okay here it goes

Darius: I want to propose to Alador

Amity: WHAT

Ed: Really?

Em: WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Darius: I've drawn up the plan and will send them soon.

Amity: OMG, Darius, this is awesome.

Darius: Thanks Amity, I hope it goes well. We've really grown over the 4 years of dating, and I hope I can be a good parental figure to you and the twins

Em: You really mean it?

Darius: Yeah, I've always wanted to be a dad, and now I have the opportunity. I hope I do well.

Amity: Well you can't do any worse than you-know-who

Darius: Thanks for the support, though she didn't set a high bar

Em: She set the bar at all?

Darius: Touche

Ed: And hopefully we will be good kids. I know we're adults, so it's probably not what you imagined being a dad would be like, but we promise to be good.

Em: And we'll continue to be good siblings as well. Side note, Amity?

Amity: Yes?

Em: Now that we are at a slower time in our lives, I want to ask, are we good?

Amity: Yes, why do ask?

Ed: Well, we teased you a lot in our youth. We never meant any harm, but we realise we may have been, as much as I hate to admit it, mean to you.

Em: That was never our intention, and we're sorry if we crossed any lines

Amity: Well, the only real line crossed was with the diary and Luz. But given how much of a jerk I was back then, I kind of had it coming.

Darius: I'm just as guilty. I crossed my share of lines in my past that Alador only told me about AFTER we started dating. Oof, not my finest moments

Em: Well what happened happened. We can't change the past, but we can make a better future.

Darius: Anyways, here's the plan…….

(MEANWHILE)

Room Created: OldWitches

11:13

Raine has entered Eda has entered Lilith has entered

Eda: Today's the day! Today's the day! Today's the day! Today's the day! Today's the day! Today's the day!

Lilith: Whoa, sister, calm down, what's the occasion?

Eda: After so long of trying to get an appointment, Raine's getting their sigil removing treatment!

Lilith: Awesome. I had mine yesterday, and I gave my sigil a certain gesture before it went away.

Eda: That's my sister. So, Rainestorm, what new magic do you want to try first?

Raine: You're not going to belive this but, of all types, illusions

Eda: I take it you saw that article I sent of Goops moping the floor with Adrian?

Raine: Yep, I had no idea you could tell when someone was hiding behind and illusion. We laughed at Adrian all dang afternoon post incedent.

Lilith: I would have paid SO many snails to see that

Raine: I got the whole thing on my scroll. And backed it up on three of my personal devices.

Eda: Whatever happened to him and the other defect coven leaders?

Lilith: Trying to find them, but so far no activity.

Raine: They should be dormant for now, but the hunt is still on.

Eda: Check out this news article I found. [link]

Raine: What is it?

Lilith: It better not be one of THOSE websites again.

Eda: You'll see

4:20

Raine: EDA!

Eda: Yes?

Raine: Why did you not tell me about this wonderful thing called fanfiction? I don't even know who wrote this but, God, they have excellent potential.

Lilith: I think I know who wrote it

Raine: Who is the author?

Lilith: If you scroll all the way up, you'll see the author is AzuraFanOtter, take a wild witch guess who that is

Raine: Well no wonder Luz is getting A's in her writing classes, this is wonderful

Eda: And fitting 20 characters in one scene while giving them all ample screen time is tricky, but she made it work.

Lilith: Maybe she should write her own book. The money made from that could benefit her greatly in the future.

Eda: Indeed, though she'll probably be fine when she marries Boots, cause all the Blights are LOADED.

Lilith: Now now, keep in mind, there is a change things don't work out for them. It's not like they were made with the other in mind.

Eda: …

Raine: …

Eda: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Raine: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lilith: What? I'm serious.

Raine: We know, but I'll eat griffon feathers if they don't work out.

Eda: OH SHOOT! RAINE! THE TIME!

RAINE: GAH! MY TREATMENT'S IN 10! THE NEXT TIME SLOT IS A WEEK FROM NOW SO I GOTTA GO!

Raine has left

Lilith: Well, I promised Darius I'd help with a "surprise" for Alador.

Eda: Cool, have fun.

Lilith: Thank you for not making an innappropriate joke for that.

Eda: Yeah, sorry about last week's prank, didn't think it go over as bad as it did.

Lilith: No no, I should have just taken the joke.

Eda has left

Lilith has left

[copperdaisy]

Okay, cap blog posts have been queued for the next week, time for me to chatter about something I have been casually mulling over. Disclaimer that I haven't given it too much thought. It has just been something for me to kick around at night so I don't focus too much on the tractor trailer tire versus the front of my house issue. (We're still in the early stages of getting estimates and don't yet know if/how big of a legal thing this will become. We would be looking at upwards of $10k minimum in repairs if they have to replace that whole section of wall and the driver wants to pay out of pocket instead of going through their insurance.)

ANYWAY. The thing I have been kicking around is a crossover for two of my oldest fandoms, Final Fantasy VIII and Yu-Gi-Oh!. I have zero actual plot ideas beyond the fact that it would be a 'canon transplant' sort of deal, where the YGO cast would be native residents of the FF8 setting. The idea came about because I was playing both FF8 and the Early Days collection at the same time and had the stray thought that hey... there is some common ground here that could be explored. The two even share a card game element, how convenient!

(For anyone curious about the 'common ground' between the two canons, the basic breakdown is: monsters, school aged teens having to save the world through multiple crises, card games that involve the winner taking the loser's best card, amnesia, the act of sacrificing memories to keep those closest to you - and by extension, the whole world - safe, the importance of owning a cool coat or piece of jewelry and the necessity that is multiple belts, etc.)

So, here is my rambling about Kaiba in this setting, mostly because he is the only one I have nailed down ideas for.

He was initially the most difficult character for me to figure out an AU for. At first I hesitated to place him in one of the Gardens because they are educational institutions that train special military forces. But, given the setting change, I can't see him not being at one of the Gardens. And with that in mind I decided that the best place for him, at least to begin with, would be Galbadia Garden. G-Garden focuses on technological breakthroughs, primarily in weapons design, and does not train its students to use GFs (Guardian Forces). This would mean that Kaiba would be proficient in using firearms and other military equipment, but not magic. However, I can see him joining Balamb Garden following the events of the Battle of the Gardens. With that in mind, the set-up I have tentatively settled on for him is:

Weapon: Firearms (in Galbadia Garden); Staff (in Balamb Garden). Originally I was leaning towards a kendo-style weapon for him, thanks to the Virtual World arc, but I mean... imagine the possibilities with a staff. Plus it could be upgraded numerous ways, given that each weapon in FF8 has at least five versions.

Element Affinity: Blizzard would be the easy answer, but I can just as easily see him using Thunder and some of the support magics like Scan, Haste, etc.

Guardian Force(s): Bahamut. Come on, it has to be Bahamut. Giant dragon obtained through a difficult fight in a secret research facility, with said fight being proceeded by multiple fights with lesser dragon monsters? Cerberus would be another. It is a resident of Galbadia Garden, has twice as much sass as Bahamut, and casts Double and Triple, making it immediately easier to cast multiple high level spells.